Katie Hoff broke two American records and Jason Lezak and Garrett Weber-Gale both lowered the American record in the 100m freestyle on the fourth night of action at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Swimming Team Trials in Omaha.

Hoff broke the American records while finishing first in both the 200m free (1:55.88) and 200m IM (2:09.71). The wins marked the third and fourth of the meet for Hoff, who also won the women's 400m IM and 400m free earlier in the week.


Lezak first lowered his own record in the men's 100m freestyle with a preliminary swim of 48:15. One heat later, Weber-Gale took it down further with a time of 47:78. In the evening's semi-finals, Lezak reclaimed his record and took the top seed heading into finals, with a time of 47:58.

"I just wanted to make a statement that I had a lot more in me," Lezak said. "I put it all out there tonight. I came in here trying to do my best time, and I did that twice."

Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) won his third event of the Trials, posting a U.S. Open record time of 1:52.20 in the 200m butterfly. Earlier this week, Phelps posted wins in the 400m IM and 200m free.

In what was perhaps the marquee match-up of the evening, Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.) jumped out ahead of the field in the 200m IM, touching .76 seconds ahead of world record pace at the 50- and 100-meter marks. Hoff and Ariana Kukors (Auburn, Wash.) drew even with Coughlin at the last wall, and all three swimmers dashed for home.

Hoff pulled ahead with about 15 meters to go. Coughlin finished second in 2:10.32, while Kukors was third in 2:10.40.

In the women's 200m free, Hoff led the field from start to finish, but had to hold off a charging Allison Schmitt (Canton, Mich.) in the final 20 meters of the race. Schmitt touched in at 1:55.92, which was also under Hoff's previous American record of 1:56.08.

Julia Smit (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) finished third in 1:56.73, while Caroline Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) of Lakeside Swim Team was fourth in 1:57.93. The four women (Hoff, Burkle, Smit, Schmitt) all qualified for the Olympic Team. Kim Vandenberg (Moraga, Calif.) was fifth in 1:58.02, and Christine Marshall (Newport News, Va.) was sixth in 1:58.16.

Phelps was in control of the men's 200m fly from the start and cruised to the win with the fastest time in the world this year and the second-fastest performance of all time. He was shadowed closely by Club Wolverine teammate Davis Tarwater (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Gil Stovall (Memphis, Tenn.) for much of the race, but it was Stovall who surged ahead of Tarwater with about 35 meters to go and touched second in 1:53.86.

"I don't think I took the race out like I should have," Phelps said. "I think I was maybe too relaxed in the first 50, which, for me, never happens. That's something to change in the next month, and I definitely won't make that mistake again."

Stovall's time makes him the second-fastest swimmer of all time in this event behind Phelps. "I'm happy this event is getting faster," Phelps said. "And I'm happy the two fastest in the world are Americans."

The first-place finishers in the finals of the men's 200m fly and women's 200m IM - along with the top four finishers in the women's 200m free - automatically qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Wednesday. The second-place finishers in the men's 200m fly and women's 200m IM - along with the fifth- and sixth-place finishers in the women's 200m free - could be named to the team later in the week, pending swimmers qualifying in multiple events.

Elaine Breeden (Lexington, Ky.) broke the 24-year-old meet record in the semifinals of the women's 200m butterfly, turning in a time of 2:07.33. The old mark was held by butterfly legend Mary T. Meagher at 2:07.53. Breeden's time Wednesday was about seven-tenths of a second ahead of the rest of the field, but qualifiers 2-5 are separated by less than a second heading into tomorrow night's finals.

American record-holder Brendan Hansen (Havertown, Pa.) will be going for his second win of the week Thursday night, in the 200m breaststroke. He and Longhorn teammate Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.) are the top two seeds after tonight's semifinals, with times of 2:09.60 and 2:10.24, respectively. Local favorite Scott Usher (Grand Island, Neb.) qualified as the fifth-place seed.

Thursday's events include prelims and semifinals of the women's 100m free, men's 200m back, women's 200m breast and men's 200m IM. Finals will be conducted in the men's 200m breast, women's 200m fly and men's 100m free. Thursday night's finals and semifinals will air live on the USA Network, beginning at 7 p.m. CT.